The Devil Dog SON
by The Basilisk King
Summary: War, Turmoil, Family. These are the things that SAMCRO have to deal with during the horrifying times of WWIII and beyond, will the mother charter survive, especially with Abel right at the centre of the conflict  sorry for the summary pls read and review
1. Chapter 1

AN: Ok there are a few things in this story that make it a little different from the regular cannon, and although I am a huge fan of the cannon story arc, this little bastard wouldn't shut up until I wrote something down. Ok here is where it gets a little different. 1) The majority of Cannon incidences that have occurred up until this point have occurred, but some have changed, I'll mention them here. 2) Pretty much the whole of this story takes place in the future , not like 2300 future but when the Teller boys are older 3) Abel is approx two years older than Thomas, at the beginning of the story Abel is 17 and Thomas about to turn 15. 4) Piney isn't dead he was never killed by Clay [Sorry I just think that his character is awesome] 5) Opie is still with Lyla, she never bailed but gave up the girl on guy aspect of porn until she fell pregnant, never had the abortion. 6) and this will be the big one that people might hate me for, Clay and Gemma didn't kill JT, Clay blames himself for the death of JT because they were out for a ride and got ambushed by Myans, JT took a bullet meant for Clay. 8) At the start of this story its approx ten years since Clay voluntarily stepped down to get surgery on his hands so he could still ride. Ok thats all I can think of for the moment more when they occur. Now on with the story

Story

'_Chapter 1'_

Abel Teller lay back on the hood of his vintage 63 Mustang parked on a hill on the outskirts of Charming and looked up at the sky, a sigh escaped his seventeen year old lips as he thought with contentment at the way his life was going. He was only a few short months away from being able to patch in as a Prospect with SAMCRO, he had an awesome car, and needless to say knowing who his father and grandfather were, an awesome bike, a midnight black with dark blue trim Harley Davidson Iron 883. He was currently dating the single hottest girl in his high school Tiffany Rodgers, she was dating him because he was pretty good looking himself, at least he thought so, and because his dad was the President of the Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original, Jackson 'Jax' Teller, he grinned thinking about his dad, they were as close as a father and son could be, they shared interests, hobbies, hung out as buddies, and on more than one occasion had been yelled at by Abel's mother and grandmother for indulging in too much beer while watching the game on the TV.

Glancing at his watch he swore quietly to himself, he was going to be late if he didn't move his ass and he still needed to get home to change, Sunday night dinner at Grandma Gemma's was a Teller-Morrow family tradition and this one was all the more important seeing as it was Clay's birthday ,and if one was late, mount Gemma would be on the lookout for blood, or at least an ear, which in Abel and his brother's opinion _'Fucking Hurt'_ and while there dad would often berate them for their bad language, he would agree with them quietly. He too sometimes got grabbed by the ear too when he irritated his mother, something he did quite a bit. Abel banged on the roof of the car to wake up Thomas who was currently napping in the back seat "Yo Thomas up and at em little bro, were gonna be late if we don't hurry up."

The muffled swearing and groaning indicated that the youngest Teller boy was awake, if not overly happy about it, getting in the front seat Abel waited for Thomas to get in the passenger side before not only revving the powerful engine, but turning up the vintage rock, just to help his brother out with the hangover he had been hiding from his mother for the past day. "Fuck you Abel" grumbled Thomas before he groaned and held a hand over his mouth as his older brother gunned the engine and shot off down the road towards Charming.

"Where the hell are those boys?" Gemma Teller-Morrow grumbled to her daughter-in-law as they stood behind the kitchen table putting the final touches on the salad to accompany the fine roast beef that had been cooking for the last six hours. Gemma glanced at the photo sitting on her mantelpiece; it was the combined Teller-Morrow families in one great big photo. There was a smiling Clay and Gemma sitting at the front, and Gemma was insanely proud about the fact that she had been able to wrangle all the boys in the photo to wear a suit, Clay, Jax, Abel and Thomas all wearing smart black suits with dark blue or black ties, although she hadn't been able to stop all of them from wearing a SOA pin.

She looked at her son's two boys, Abel and Thomas, both of them looked so much like their father, same fair hair, same eyes, even though there was a few years between them there were some differences noticeable, firstly although they had Jax's lean build Abel had the lead on his brother in both height and breadth of shoulder, taking more after some of his birth-mother's side of the family. Thomas had a fair amount of _his_ mother, but even though the two of them came from different mothers, neither of them thought that, and no one that knew them ever thought or said differently, and in both boy's eyes Tara was their mother.

"Looks like they are here Gemma" came the sound of Tara's voice form over near the window, even though she wasn't a big fan of tardiness, or her son's choice of car, but she loved her two boys very much, and just the sight of them brought a smile to her face, especially as the pair had obviously taken a moment to go back to the house and freshen up.

Glancing into the living room Tara felt a small grimace come onto her face, she was looking at one Tiffany Rodgers, her eldest's girlfriend. She was not overly fond of the high school beauty, there was something that just bothered her every time she saw her, which was odd as she was sure that there was nothing that Tiffany had done that should warrant her ire, Jax and the other SAMCRO members she had met all seemed to like her well enough, but then again she was young, hot and quiet stacked so they could be slightly biased, Gemma's voice just behind her brought her out of her musing.

"You know something darlin, that's how I used to look at you when you would come over to see Jax."

Tara turned to her in surprise "No it's true, I thought that no one would ever be good enough for my baby-boy, I am however surprised that I was proven wrong, you turned out to be the best thing that happened to Jax, you and the boys."

Tiffany's loud laughter wrung out from the living room and both of the older women turned to look at her, she was currently talking with a very aged Piney who was lapping up the attention of the young beauty. Tiffany loved being the centre of attention, something that was only helped by what she had on and how she was made up, her long honey coloured hair was done in a simple elegant ponytail, she was wearing a red satiny figure hugging dress that accentuated her curves, the dress itself was so short that it just barely covered here rear, and plunged low enough to mean that she was unable to wear a bra, so her chest was practically on display, and that was a lot of chest for one person.

Abel entered the door with his younger brother a step behind him "Hiya Mom, Grandma, where are the old guys?"

Tara greeted her sons first "Hey boys, they are in the living room, better get in there Abel or they will make a play for your girl." Abel grinned gave his mom and grandma a kiss on the cheek and headed for the living room before the voice of his grandma brought him up short.

"So do either of you to boys have an explanation as to why you are late?"

Both of the Teller boys cringed and looked back at their father's fierce mother and carefully met her glare, although this was nowhere near as angry as they had seen her, and her eyes held a hint of mirth, she was still annoyed.

Tara and Gemma saw the bright spark of mischief enter Abel's eyes a good few seconds before he even opened his mouth.

"Actually the reason we're late is that Thomas had a late one last night with his football buddies, thing he's a little hung-over this morning, what with spending all morning puking and sleeping."

He got out of there the minute Tata and Gemma's voices reached banshee like proportions, giggling like a schoolboy he made his way into the living room where the other side of his family were sitting.

"Whoa what's this? The old dinosaur's are making a move for my girl? Tiff do I need to be worried?" said Abel with a grin as his girlfriend stepped forward into his arms and kissed him soundly, much to the taunting cries of the assembled SAMCRO crew.

"No, you have nothing to worry about baby, these nice gentlemen were just being nice." Tiffany replied hooking her arm around her boyfriends mid section as he pulled her close via her slim waist.

A snort of laughter and a muttered "Gentlemen?" announced Clay's entrance to the room, he moved over and hugged Abel saying "Good to see you kid, wasn't your brother coming with you?"

There were sniggers and snorts around the room as Abel looked a little sheepish for a moment "Yeah he's here, although he's currently getting reamed by your old lady and my mom because he's hung over as all balls today."

Clay's grey bearded face broke into a huge grin as he thought about the joy of _someone else_ being on the 'Gemma Shit-List' aside from himself. "You didn't happen to be about to get in trouble too Abel, then you decided to embrace the better part of valour and drop you little brother in deeper shit and bail?"

"Would I do that" was Abel's far too innocent reply.

"Pfft shit yeah you would" came the reply from Jax Teller himself, he loved that his boys equally and without question, but there was something in his eldest's smart arse attitude that just made him think of himself at that age.

A few hours later when everyone had been fed and watered, or in the case of Piney and Bobby, very well fed and watered, they sat down to give Clay his gifts. He got a gold fob watch from Thomas and Abel; a gift he would be given 'later' from Gemma, the SAMCRO crew had all chipped in and got him a matched set of .44 Python pistols, engraved with images of the Reaper with the SOA patch on the handle everyone laughed when Gemma said that if he didn't behave with them she would take them off him.

Then Abel stood up "Ok if I can have your attention please, that means shut up Uncle Tigg" Tigg mock glared and threw a couch cushion at his 'unnofficial' nephew, both the Teller boys called all the members of the SAMCRO crew 'Uncle' except Piney, he was Grandpa Piney, something he was very touched by.

"I would like to say something to you all about my grandfather. He's always there for you when it counts, he would take a bullet for anyone here, two if he had to. He served his country in Vietnam and has never let a member of this family down since, therefore I have, with the permission of my dad, the ugly one in the corner" people laughed at the indignant expression on Jax's face, as he and his sons looked so much alike, "Mom and Grandma too, I have one more gift for you Grandad, one I hope you will accept."

He reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a piece of folded official looking paper and handed it to Clay. Pulling out his glasses the older man read the paper and looked up in surprise "Are you serious about this? You really want this to happen?"

Abel could only nod his head, when it came down to it all the members of this little messed up, dysfunctional, incredibly loving family were all very emotional, and the big patriarch was no different.

Dropping the paper on the table Clay stood up and embraced his grandson tightly, the faint sparkle of tears could be seen in his eyes, when the pair pulled apart and looked at the odd looks from the rest of the room.

Clay slung his arm around the younger mans shoulder, turned and said "Let me introduce to you all Abel Teller-Morrow, looks like my name lives on in the next generation after all boys."

The resounding cheers were probably heard by the neighbours across the street as the family celebrated long into the night, however if any of them had been watching the television, they would have heard the Emergency Broadcast system announce that the rising tension between America and the Chinese-Korean allied states had spilled over and President Graham J Clarke formally said the following words.

"My fellow Americans, like Pearl Harbour today is a day that will live in infamy, today at approximately seven forty five pm Washington time, the United States Government was given an ultimatum by the People's Republic of China and her Korean Allies. The United States was told that due to our 'refusal to comply with their demands that America remove all her troops from South Korea and Nepal that they had no choice but to declare war on the United States'. Fellow citizens it is with the greatest regret that I, as your President, inform you that of right now our nation is at war with the People's Republic of China and North Korea."

Eight Weeks Later:

"Dad it's my decision, it's not yours, it's not mom's and it sure as hell doesn't involve everyone in the goddamn MC. You saw what happened on the news, the Chinese are moving east towards Europe and the Koreans have headed south, they are within freaking spitting distance of making one Korea. You can't stop me dad, I'm packed I'm heading down to San Diego I'm joining the Marines."

It was a strange scene in the Teller household, a family that normally had only the fewest of arguments, and even though all members of said family had big tempers, they were like flash fires, easy to start and easy enough to put out. But this argument going on between Jax and his oldest son had raged for more than two hours.

The previous evening he had told his family of his intention to enlist, needles to say, his parents were less than thrilled by this statement, Thomas had just quietly marvelled at his brother's ability to whether the storm that was Jax and Tara Teller, especially when both of their tempers were consolidated on one source, in this case their seventeen year old son.

_That_ argument had lasted from just after dinner until a long time after midnight, and neither Jax nor Tara's tempers had been cooled by the knowledge that Abel had felt that he had been able to talk to Piney and Clay about his decision and not them. Even though had they been more rational and less angry they would understand that Abel had not wanted to cut them out of the decision, but had wanted to talk to two members of his family that had actually served in the military.

"Abel listen to me, what you are doing is a mistake there is a war on. Jesus Christ do you realise that you could be killed? Is that what you want? Do you want your mother and myself to bury you? You're abandoning this family."

Abel was shocked, in the past he and his dad had endured their fare share of spats, but never had his father attacked him in such a way, unfortunately this only awakened his own considerable temper.

"That's a bit rich coming from you isn't it dad, how many times did I have to come with mom to visit you in prison for one reason or another? I mean I must have seen more of Stockton than any other seventeen year old unless they got sent there. While you were inside who looked after this family? Who sat up at night during the riots last year when you were locked up for six months? Who looked after mom and Thomas, sure as shit wasn't you was it? You hypocritical bastard."

Abel never saw the punch coming, one minute he was yelling at his dad's angry face the next minute his head had snapped back bouncing off the wall behind him, he reacted on instinct and clocked his father with a solid right hook knocking the older man back. But before either of them could continue Tara was between them.

"Stop it, Stop it both of you. Especially you Abel, how dare you say such things about your father, and now you are fighting."

It was easy to see the hurt on Abel's face, but Tara ploughed on, her temper getting the better of her. "If you really feel that way Abel maybe it's better that you do go, but just so you know if you walk out that door then don't come back."

That one sentence shocked Jax out of his anger, he was angry at his son, angry at the situation that seemed to be tearing their family apart, but he didn't want him to leave and not come back, but before he could say anything he heard Abel snarl out "Fine."

Before turning away so that his parents could not see his tears, picked up his duffel back, and slammed the door behind him. A few seconds later Jax and Tara heard the engine on his car start up before the roaring engine sped away down the street. It was then that Tara fell to her knees and wept.

Neither Jax nor Tara spoke to Abel after that, their son had spoken to his grandparents, and Jax had learnt that Clay had actually gone down to San Diego with Abel so that there was someone to bring the car back. And only Thomas, Gemma and Clay had been invited to attend Abel's passing out parade, only they had seen him immediately upon the completion of his training promoted to Private First Class.

Letters from Abel had been few, although welcomed by those that received them, the most notable recipitents were Chibbs, Tigg, Happy, Juice, Piney, Opie and his family Clay and Gemma and Thomas. By this time everyone had heard about the confrontation between Jax and his son, and while they could appreciate his concern and what he said, no one could agree with the way that it was said, even Thomas didn't talk to his parents for some weeks after it had happened.

Practically like Jax had predicted Abel had been sent into combat, more than once, the war was turning out to be long and bloody, and was already being called World War Three, the entire world was at war, and the only concern that the citizens of Charming California had was for one lost Son.

Abel had been gone for just over five years when the day came that Jax, Tara and the rest of the SAMCRO family had been dreading. Jax had come home from Teller-Morrow along with Clay, and Gemma who they had picked up along the way and returned to Jax's home where they were supposed to have a family meal along with Tara and Thomas, when a horrifying sight greeted them, parked outside the front of the home was a U.S.M.C. sedan with a uniformed Corporal inside.

The three rushed inside the house to find a weeping Tara being comforted by a only slightly less crying Thomas, along with a Marine Chaplain. Jax turned at a voice.

"Mr Teller? I am Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Roe, I'm afraid I have some bad news about your son, Sergeant Abel Teller-Morrow. We can't give you all the details as we don't know them ourselves, but your sons unit was operating out of Russia, involved in our offensive against the Chinese invasion. I don't know what happened but your sons CO reported that he is Missing In Action, but in this theatre of conflict that pretty much means Killed In Action."

Placing a hand on Jax's shoulder the Colonel continued "I am so sorry for your loss Mr Teller, your son was a fine Marine, a credit to the Corps and his country he will be missed."

Jax felt Clay's powerful arms grab him as his legs went out from underneath him, as his entire world came crashing down, and all he could see was an image on Abel walking out the door, never to return.

A/N: Ok what did people think? I am open to criticism as long as it is constructive, no flames please. I wrote this as the plot bunny would not leave me alone, and I am a huge fan of SOA, more about Abel in the War next, but beware nothing is as it seems.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for the positive reviews now on with the story

Eight years had passed since Abel had walked out the door of his parent's house and gone into the world, three of those years had been after he had been declared MIA, and the members of the Teller and Morrow households, along with the members of SAMCRO had been left to grieve. It was a strange situation, as there was only a notification of Missing in Action, there was no official death record, and because of this Jax and Tara had not been able to get permission to hold a funeral for their son, instead they went with an idea put forward by the clubs co-founder Piney. He suggested that the club, and by extension Jax and Tara, have a small memorial to Abel put up next to his blood grandfather's gravestone in the military section of the Charming cemetery, that way, in Piney's words, _'JT would always be watching over Abel, even if he actually rested in some foreign field_.

But as with all things life returned to normal, SAMCRO continued to deal guns with the Niners and the Mayans, Opie and Lyla had a daughter that they named Donna, after Opie's first wife, Tigg got a couple of more indecent exposure convictions on his file, and the rest of the members of the Sons Of Anarchy mother chapter went about their everyday lives. But all of them thought about the loss of Abel and what it had done to Jax and his old lady.

Jax had become a lot more subdued, a lot colder in his dealings with everyone, even friends and family, he brooded more, a rare feat according to Opie, who often said that Jax was a broody bastard at the best of times. But not knowing what happened to his son was slowly eating away at the SOA President, especially when everyone knew how Jax and his son had split.

The loss of his eldest had eaten Jax up in such a way he was never allowed to go anywhere alone, he never 'rode alone', another full patch member always went with him, for protection and to make sure that he didn't take any unnecessary risk. Because, aside from his cold demeanour the similarities between him and his father were there for all to see, the only reason that he kept going at all was because of the constant support of his wife, his youngest son, and his best friend. Opie was there for Jax like Jax was there for him when Donna was killed, the two of them were practically inseparable, and many of the other members of SOA, even members worldwide, thought that this was the reason that Jax didn't eat his gun.

Piney Winston, First 9, one of only two remaining Sons of Anarchy members alive that wore that patch was standing next to an often visited site, the grave of John Teller. On the side of the grave was a small stone tablet upon which was a bronze plaque, inscribed on this plaque in its top right corner was the SOA patch, only full patch members were allowed such an adornment on their graves, full patch members and those beloved by the club, as Abel was. Also engraved there was Abels full name, his last known rank; Sergeant, and his service; U.S.M.C.. Underneath were two short passages the first of which had originally been spoken by the Lieutenant Colonel that had delivered the news that Abel was MIA, the second was a common enough SAMCRO catchphrase that Abel had used everytime he did something that got him praise from one of the many full patch members in his family.

_-"One of the Few, One of the Proud, One Hell of a Marine"-_

_-"Fear the Reaper"-_

Next to the stone was a picture of Abel, one of the only ones that anyone in Charming had of him since he joined the Corps. He was mostly in full Marine battledress with camo fatigues, a solid Kevlar vest and shoulder pads, but instead of the usual Marine Corps helmet he was wearing his camo cover, the Eagle, Globe and Anchor sigil proudly displayed on the front. He was grinning at the camera with his right hand raised to his temple in a mock salute; he was also behind the wheel of some form of vehicle. He looked happy and proud at the same time; it was a picture that brought a smile to the face and a tear of the eye of anyone who saw it.

Piney looked down his kutte at his medals, he was wearing then for a very special reason, today was Abel's birthday and Gemma was throwing a celebratory dinner in the absent Son's honour. It was a yearly occurrence, ever since Abel had been declared missing, so this was the third occurrence, it was half memorial service for Abel, half celebration of someone they all loved. Still glancing at the bits of metal and ribbon on his chest and felt a tear trickle down his wrinkled face. His thoughts drifted to his own experience in war time, for his service in Vietnam he had received all the usual campaign medals, along with an army commendation medal, two purple hearts and a bronze star for valour. The things he had seen rushed before his eyes, the jungles, the dark terror of a Viet Cong attack, and the pure hellish inferno of a napalm strike, he had seen it all.

But soon his thoughts drifted to the young man who was an unofficial grandson to him, he even remembered the boy calling him Grandpa Piney. He reached into the top pocket of his kutte and pulled out an often read, creased piece of paper, it was the very last letter that Abel had sent to him, it was more than three years old and was never out of the old man's kutte, he knew that Clay did the very same thing with a similar letter.

_Dear Grandpa Piney_

_I know it's been a while since I last wrote you a letter, but as you may have guess things have been pretty hectic over here, I know that you would know as we had a couple of jackasses from CNN and NBC lurking around Camp ***** ambushing the Marines for comments. I mean seriously asking Marines if they were unsatisfied with the war? If they were unhappy with the bad press that we had been getting at home? For fucks sake some dipshit asked me if I missed anyone at home, standard issue Marine fist to the face sorted that dumbass out, well worth a week in the Brig if you ask me. _

_I hope that this letter finds you well, give my best to Tiff, tell her I love her and I'm thinking of her always. Oh and tell Opie, Lyla and the rest, seriously I know too many people to write them on a piece of paper, that I wish them well, wealth and happiness and all that mushy crap. I'm doing ok I guess, getting shot at gets pretty boring after a while though, looking forward to my next shoreleave, last one was in London which was pretty cool, friggin wet, but pretty cool. _

_Aside from that there isn't much to tell, I know our mail is being screened so 'Hi Uncle Sam', which means I can't tell you where I am right now, hence why the camp name is probably blanked out, but thanks for all the moral support you've given me since I joined up, I don't think I'll ever be able to express what it means to me. _

_Take care of yourself Old Man _

_Abel Teller-Morrow _

_Sergeant _

_United States Marine Corps_

_P.S. Tell the folks I'm ok_

Piney sighed at the post script, in every letter he had ever received from Abel it always had the same post script, it saddened him that Abel had been unable to reconnect with his parents, because he knew that if Jax and Tarra had received a message from their absent child their lives would have been so much brighter.

He was brought out of his musings by the sound of his cell phone ringing, flipping open the small communication device he answered "This is Piney...Yes Gemma I didn't forget...No I'm at the cemetery just checking in on the boys...Yeah I wouldn't miss Abel's party for anything, see you soon darling."

Pocketing his phone he snapped to attention as well as his old bones would let him and gave a salute to the combined gravestone/ memorial, turned and ambled back to his trike and headed towards the Morrow House. He never saw the figure smoking the cigar that had been watching him for easily twenty minutes from the shade of a tree, he never saw the figure move the gravestone and squat down in front of it for a few minutes, touch the headstone and the memorial once and leave.

Clarence 'Clay' Morrow, First 9, Vietnam vet, mechanic and patriarch of the Teller-Morrow families and all around jack of all trades, was sitting in his lounge room, the curtains closed and a glass of scotch in his large hand. He was thinking about his grandson, he knew intellectually that the boy had absolutely no blood relation to him whatsoever, but he didn't care, he could not care more about that boy if he was his own flesh and blood. He could remember the first time he held Abel in his arms as a baby, he could remember all the times that the boy came to him with problems, wanting advice, of just wanting to be around his grandpa, although they often joked that grandma's cooking also played a huge influence as to why Abel went anywhere.

Clay, like Piney, was wearing his medals today, he had them pinned on his kutte underneath the Redwood Original patch, like Piney he had the Vietnam campaign medals army commendation medal, army good conduct medal (surprising all who knew him), and the silver star. He had never really cared for his medals, he remembered his time in Vietnam with a sense of detachment he was told lots of Nam vets felt, but he remembered the feeling he had when he got home. The unbelievably overwhelming feeling of being back with his brothers, the other members of the First 9 Sons of Anarchy, but his heart was heavy with the feeling that Abel would never know that feeling, to be welcomed home with loving arms.

He looked down at his other hand at the letter he was currently holding, it was a ritual, like the medals, that every year on his grandsons birthday he would read the last letter he had ever received from the young Marine. And keeping with his ritual he re-read the missive on the crinkled piece of paper.

_Dear Grandpa_

_How are things going back home? I'm really sorry that I haven't written to you and grandma, I'm including her in this bit as she is either reading over your shoulder, or she is the one reading this in that case, "Hi Grandma". There are so many things that I want to tell you, and to talk to you about but I'm not allowed to, stupid security measures they seriously must not know who I am and who I am talking to. _

_I wish I was able to tell you what I'm doing and where I am, but the aforementioned security measures prevent me from doing so, all I can say is that I am currently involved in the campaigns in Russia, the only two things that I can really talk about it that it is firggin cold here and that there is plenty of vodka here. The Russians are alright, they are pretty friendly towards us Americans, it's amazing what can happen when you share a foxhole with someone. Oh I'm even picking up some Russian, getting in touch with grandma's family's 'angry Russian side'. _

_Aside from that there isn't much to tell, the Koreans are doing their best to let us know that they are here, but there're no match for the big Green Marine Machine, don't laugh our Lt spent most of the last week trying to come up with that slogan, I honestly wonder why they let these guys out of the house, they're like 12 or something._

_Anyway I'd better wrap this up I can hear some jackass of a Master Sergeant calling us in, probably for something stupid, dangerous or degrading, it's a bit sad that I'd almost prefer degrading at this point, you don't tend to get shot at whilst cleaning out the shitter. _

_Give everyone my love, and tell Tiff I'm thinking of her, please do it grandma I know you don't really like her, but do it for me._

_Lots of Love_

_Abel Teller-Morrow_

_Sergeant _

_United States Marine Corps_

_P.S. Tell the folks I'm ok_

Clay didn't really know how to feel about reading this letter anymore, the burning intense pain of losing Abel had dulled to a constant ache that only really flared up around this time of year. It was known to many that Clay had a temper, was able to make the hard decisions that came with running an MC when he was President, but he was also a deeply emotional man he had a deep love for all the members of his family, but there was a special place in his heart for the grandson that would always come over to talk to him about all subjects, even hear some of his less gruesome war stories from Nam.

Drowning the rest of his scotch he pulled himself out of his chair and headed out to the backyard where Gemma had laid out all the things ready for the barbeque, he saw all the members of the SAMCRO crew milling around in the backyard. Tig, a former Marine himself was wearing his own medals and decorations, and Bobby were talking to Lyla and Gemma near one of benches set up for everyone in attendance. Happy was laughing and joking around with Opie, Juice and Chibs were talking with Juice's wife Bree and Chibs' wife Fiona. The atmosphere was relaxed, reserved, but relaxed, a group of friends coming together to remember someone they all loved and missed.

Clay couldn't help but grin at the sight of Thomas though, there he was talking with Jax, who was truly smiling for once, his youngest grandson was wearing a dark leather kutte with the Reaper proudly displayed on the back, the boy had been a full patch for about a year and a half now, and Clay was very proud of the young man, he was great with computers but even better with engines, a real Teller, the only person that was missing at the moment was the girl he thought would have been his granddaughter-in law. Tiff was a regular fixture at these family gatherings, after Abel had left she had basically become a member of the SAMCRO family, she was also the only person in Charming who had seen Abel since he had left for the Marines.

Abel had been home to the United States once during his time away, he had two weeks leave before he had to report back to the front lines, and that time he had spent with Tiff in New York. Which caused the folks in Charming no end of pain, that their prodigal son wouldn't come home, or more upsettingly felt he couldn't come home. But today was a day to remember the good times, and try not to dwell on the fact that Abel could not be with them today, but he knew deep in his heart that until someone was to definitively tell him that his grandson was dead, there would always be a shred of hope that his boy was still alive.

He could not stop the grin from spreading across his face at the cheer that went up from most of the men in his backyard, Tiff had arrived. Tiff was good looking when she was in High School, but in the years since she had blossomed into a real stunner, her school girl good looks had matured into a beauty that was hard to match, and which unfortunately meant that wherever she went she was hit on constantly by any guy with a pulse. But Clay could not fault her had she decided to move on with someone else, Abel had been missing for three years now, been away from his home and family for eight years, that's a long time to wait for someone, but she hadn't been with anyone else. Her girlfriends had tried to set her up with a string of nice guys, in their opinion, but she had politely turned them down, and only a few needed Thomas, Happy and Tig to insist that they leave her alone.

The smell of cooking meat filled the air, along with laughter and friendly conversation, the assembled group including a few late arrivals, namely Big Otto Delaney and his wife Louanne. Otto had gotten out of prison a few years before Abel joined the Marines, it was determined that some of the evidence that had been vital to his original conviction had been handled with less than professional care in order to secure a quick conviction, and as such his conviction was overthrown, and he was released with time-served for the remainder of his crimes.

Clay was sitting back looking as his assembled friends and family when he looked down at his right hand, there was still a pale band on his finger where once a large SOA ring had sat, he remembered the day he had pulled up in front of the United States Marine Corps recruiting centre with Abel, he remembered with absolute clarity the look on the young man's face as he had pressed the heavy bronze-gold ring emblazoned with the Reaper Crest into his hand and said "For luck" the tight hug that followed had almost brought him to tears, but it was nothing to the sight of his grandson walking through the doors that would send him far away from hearth and home.

Gemma was doing everything that she could to keep her rolling emotions in check, today was a day that everyone was pretending to feel joy, when all they could feel was sorrow. However there was an unspoken rule that stated that if anyone broke down the purpose of the day would be void, pointless, because if anyone let themselves fall prey to the emotions they were feeling, it would mean that they had given up hope and that Abel was truly given up as lost.

She saw Tiff lending a hand getting the plates together and taking them inside, since the number of people who came round to their house for dinner had increased, especially with so many of the members of SOA having families, or expanding to their families, even Opie's eldest boy was getting ready to get married, the family had bought a large long wooden table and set it up in their back yard to ensure that on fine nights, such as this, they could all sit together.

Only a few people saw Tiff head into the house with the last load of dishes before the next course was served, no one heard her turn at the deep voice that rumbled in her ear, but everyone heard her long piercing scream, it was so loud that people two towns over probably heard her.

Anyone not familiar with the members of the Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original would have been surprised at the speed which handguns and knives were produced, but long wars with rival MC's, gangs and law enforcement had forced them to carry at all times. But even those not armed, such as wives, old ladies and minors all ran in with the full patches to see what could cause a girl so strong and self reliant to scream like that, they would never have guessed in a thousand lifetimes what would greet them on the other side of those doors.

Tiffany Emily Rodgers was not in a happy place at the moment, she loved the Teller-Morrow family, she loved the members of SAMCRO but she could not help but shake the feeling the Abel should be there, she had never felt what she felt for Abel with anyone else, and his absence was like a knife wound that would not heal.

Sighing she placed the plates down on the counter top ready to be washed, she was about to grab another plate of meat when she felt a large hand descend on her shoulder and a deep voice rumble near her ear "Hey beautiful."

Spinning around she found herself looking into eyes that looked like they had been forged from chip of ice, doing the only appropriate thing in at the time, she screamed.

Jax, Clay and Gemma were the first ones into the house and they saw a crying Tiff sobbing into the chest of a uniformed United States Marine Corps Olive 'Class A' dress uniform, three sergeant's stripes with two under-slung rockers marked him as a Gunnery Sergeant. Gemma immediately voiced the worst case scenario.

"Abel...he's dead isn't he? One of my babies isn't coming home?"

Clay put a protective arm around his wife tears threatening to spill from his own eyes as the grief washed over him like an endless tide, he spared a glance at Jax who looked like he was about the break too until the Marine spoke.

"You know so many people thinking I'm dead is enough to give a guy the wrong impression" the figure turned around and there he was, decoration and campaign ribbons going practically up to his shoulder, expert rifleman and expert pistol badge gleamed on his chest. His hair was covered by a USMC service NCO cap, but the face, the face was so similar to the one that walked out the door eight years ago, but looking leaner, meaner and so much harder. The eyes spoke of someone who had seen far too much in such a short space of time, but the tiny flicker of amusement was all Abel. The assembled group was shocked out of their stupor at his next words.

"What a home coming eh? So no one is going to offer me a beer? That's sad."

He locked eyes with his startled mother and father and said in a voice warm with emotion "Mom, Dad. I'm home."

Then all hell broke loose, as everyone tried to embrace Charming's long lost son, a brother, a friend, a hero.

A/N: Whew that took me a while, sorry about that my muse nicked off for a pint and took a while to get back, hope you enjoy. Reviews are welcome, flames will be ignored, will hopefully update soon :D cya TBK


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